December 2002
Bureaucracy, Media, Police, Transport Large portions of the M6, along with a number of local roads, were temporarily closed a week ago whilst, what are believed to be a number of high ranking, Castelan personnel were moved through the area. Little is known about the convoy, which consisted of fifteen Black Ford Galaxies, although it is believed that Andrew Sant, Head of Internal Securities for Castelan, was part of it. The group recently recovered from a slump in profits following adjudication over whether the group acted illegally in a joint operation with Government Security Forces that left over twenty dead, although it is believed that the group may now be undertaking an internal investigation as well, hence the involvement of Sant. One question remains however, given that the group is a private security force and issues of jurisdiction, how did the group gain permission to close down a public highway outside of the city? Health, Media, Police, Street, Transport, University Transport companies are still complaining over the closure of the M6 and a number of minor roads for the apparent transportation of Castelan personnel. Little is about what was being transported, but the secrecy surrounding the operation has led to environmental groups in the area protesting about the possible movement of hazardous materials. Castelan have remained tight lipped on the issue and have refused to be drawn into any further speculation about the operation. Health, Industry, Police, Street, Transport, Underworld, University Castelan were moving hazardous chemicals through the city. The operation was enacted after research being undertaken by local universities into the communicable disease that as infected large portions of the cities population was found to be a front for the development of chemical weapons. Keele University have so far denied the rumours, stating that GAOM only became involved when the issue of distribution of the drug became apparent. Meanwhile the developed vaccine continues to enjoy a high percentage of success, with over 90% of those inoculated showing no signs of the virus after one week. High Society, Legal, Media, Police, Politics Sean Bowden, and his political pressure group Peer 19, continues to rally against the apparent growing power of Castelan. Although Bowden is keen to point out that has no plans for running for local office in the New Years elections, it seems likely that this is merely political grandstanding. Indeed, bookmakers are once again placing Bowden as the favourite to win the election in the New Year, even though he isn’t yet officially a candidate. Bureaucracy, Legal, Politics Harvey Mayne has criticised former councillor Sean Bowden for jumping on the bandwagon of whatever popular cause comes along. Both men are being discussed as potential candidates for the post of local councillor in the New Year, despite the fact that only Mayne is running at the moment. Mayne lost to Bowden two years ago, when the latter used the “Stoke First!” ticket as a means of securing election. Given Bowden’s current involvement with Peer 19, and its fervent anti-Castelan stance, this argument has some credence. Church, Health, High Society, Industry, Media, Politics Details continue to emerge regarding those individuals involved in Crimson Jihad (sic) and their link to city politics. Persons from a number of organisations within the city, including GAOM, Megacorp and Reed Communications, have claimed membership in the group, whilst further details of the causes they have recently supported have also been released. Amongst the groups to benefit were various homeless charities, a number of child protection agencies and local church groups. Cynics amongst the media are still pointing out that these charitable acts are little in comparison to the profits of these companies, but it seems to be falling upon deaf ears for most of the public. Legal, Media, Police, Politics, Street Castelan have denied any involvement in the death of the individual in their custody who was being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. A spokesman for the group stated that despite the high level of observation the individual was placed under, he still managed to commit suicide. No details of the individual have so far been released, although it is believed that he was involved in local politics and may have had links to G8 Suppress. What has been confirmed is that a large quantity of firearms and extreme political propaganda was found at his premises, and that this evidence is now under close examination. An independent investigation into the death is underway. Police, Politics, Underworld Speculation continues into the reason why Castelan arrested an individual (who has since died whilst in police custody) for investigating Crimson Jihad (sic). Given the secrecy concerning the group, and the wild rumours that circulated earlier in the year, it seems an unlikely target for a terrorist group, even one that is as misguided as G8 Suppress. Even more curious is the individual arrested. Little is currently known; although it as been speculated that they may have had links to a group far older than the Crimson Jihad (sic) and G8 Suppress. However, if the rumours regarding their death are to be believed, these questions may never be answered. High Society, Media, Politics, University Amid much pomp and circumstance Crimson Jihad (sic) held a gala event in aid of local charities last month. The centre piece of the festivities was a thousand pounds per plate dinner, held in order to raise monies for those who were orphaned during the bomb blast that destroyed much of the city centre five years ago. Many of those affected are now at the age where they are about to make their choices regarding which university to attend, and it is the intention of the charity to fund many of these individuals. The city’s educational department has been criticised over the last couple of years for failing to provide sufficient and relevant education to fill the gap in skills in the city. It is hoped that this initiative will go some way to redressing the balance in favour of city graduates. Police, Street, Underworld Despite the claims by Castelan that a member of the terrorist group G8 Suppress has been arrested, little news of the arrest seems to have filtered down onto the streets of the city. The group has been keeping itself quiet of late, although some rumours have begun to circulate about the group possibly trying to stockpile large amounts of weapons and explosives for future actions. However, given that both Sandernacht and the Gambino’s have recently begun to operate on a more overt level, there would appear to be truth to the rumour that it is once again getting easier to gain access to weaponry. Occult, Street The number of incidents of violence between Sandernacht and the Gambino’s continues to rise, as both groups struggle to hold onto their parts of the city. Both groups have been relatively quiet recently, but it is believed that the possible emergence of two other groups in the cities underworld may have shaken things up. One group is definitely beginning to show voodoo leanings and has had some apparent success in securing the Wolstanton / Bradwell area, not an inconsiderable feat. Little is known about the supposed fourth group, although some have speculated that they may be attempting to move down from either Cheshire or Greater Manchester. Street, University Whilst local scholars continue to argue the authenticity of the second dig site at Keele University, more details have emerged as to the manner in which the stolen goods were returned to the university. Initial investigations shed little light on the matter, but now it appears that persons of Mediterranean extraction may have executed the robberies. These details emerged following extensive forensic testing by Castelan, which showed signs that olive oil had been left at the dig site. Castelan have refused to be drawn as to whether this points to the possible involvement of the Gambino’s (who are believed to have old and well established links with the Genco Olive Co. Occult, Police Castelan have another reason for refusing to comment about traces olive oil at the university dig site. Whilst the health authorities refuse to be drawn over the reasons that so many have been admitted suffering signs of sleep disorder, what has begun to emerge are similarities in the dreams that have led to the problem. One common aspect is that the dreamer had a strong sensory notion of olive oil being present at some point during the dream. Given Castelan’s targeting of the so-called occult community at the beginning of their operations in the city, it would be unlikely that any requests for assistance will be met with anything other than stony silence. University The university is so far been keeping it quiet, but the items found at the second dig site are pretty much an exact match as those found at the first one. Carbon dating has once again placed them within the correct age bracket, but given that the odds of finding even one such site are astronomical, a second in such close vicinity seems unlikely. Professors at the university are keen to point out that both areas do not form part of a larger whole and are quite distinct from each other in terms of geographical location for the time period, adding a further layer to the mystery. Occult The small, hunched woman continues to haunt the dreams of those that are sensitive to such things. She is predominantly seen to be baking, or engaged in one craft or another. Most state that despite the intrusion they feel that her presence is benign. Her surroundings are always much less familiar and give the sense of the witches den from medieval European folklore. Street, Underworld It’s not as easy as it was, of difficult as it should be, for the samurai, in autumn? Media, Occult Thick fog has been experienced across the city for the last couple of nights, despite weather conditions to the contrary elsewhere in the county. Meteorologists have been at a loss to explain the phenomena, stating that such incidents of localised fog are usually experienced in multiple areas rather than being localised to a single area. Also of note is the chemical make-up of the weather, with much of the content bearing traces of oil within the atmosphere, as well as pure moisture vapour. Bureaucracy, Media, Politics, Transport Stoke, Penkull and Basford have continued to experience power cuts over the last month, despite numerous investigations by the authorities. Again the problem seems not to lie in the actual equipment, but an apparent lack of enough generating potential, leading to the embarrassing blackouts. Local services have said that they have increased the amount of power to the area and that the sub-station is more than adequate for their needs. Media, Occult, University Problems with photographic equipment are being experienced in the Stoke, Penkull and Basford. Reporters for the city’s various news groups have reported blurred images, double exposures (showing what appear to be much older structures below) and more, despite technical investigations of both the cameras and the film indicating that there are no problems. Many have begun to jokingly refer to the area as “The Twilight Zone”, given the general problems with technology being experienced in the area. Industry, Media, University Geologists from both universities have stated that the electrical problems in the Stoke, Penkull and Basford areas may be as a result of a large outcrop of magnetically resonant rock. The magnetic fields produced by such a rock would create many of the symptoms experienced, but would be more focussed and less disparate in nature. Given the amount of mining that has occurred in the area over the last century or so, it would be unlikely that such an outcrop would have previously gone unnoticed.